"We all just kind of threw some ideas around, so we’re starting from the musical place rather than, like, what’s the hook? It’s gotta be done that way," she told the outlet, later adding, "A lot of people see that whole other image. They see this diva; they see hair, makeup, bod, clothes, whatever it is—and hand gestures [laughs]—and they’re like, oh. They don’t think songwriter. But I look at myself as a songwriter first, and then a singer. That’s what I love to do the most."

So the "new" Mariah Carey is not that different from the old Mariah Carey, after all, especially since she continues to give no fucks, most notably when it comes to playing by the rules or meeting anyone else's standards but her own. That's why she's never concerned herself with things like the Grammys.

"In the music business, if you care about the Grammys and submitting your stuff before a certain time frame, you want a single out in the summer, and then you want to have your record [out] before the Grammys [consideration] deadline, which has changed," she explained. "Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn. I mean, I have five Grammys. That’s cute."

That's cute. According to Carey, the Grammys are always looking for what's fresh and new, and Carey isn't concerned with being anyone but herself.

"I wasn’t bitter about it. I was just like, okay, well, I guess I’m not standing here barefoot onstage singing and trying to go a certain way," she said. "I’m just me."